Military Personnel: Don't Read This!

It's not exactly every day that the Pentagon warns military personnel to stay away from Fox News. But that's exactly what some hopeful soul at the Department of Defense instructed, in a memo intended to forbid Pentagon staff reading a copy of the Taguba report detailing abuse of detainees at prisons in Iraq that had been posted at the Fox News web site.

An email to Pentagon staff marked "URGENT IT
(Information Technology) BULLETIN: Taguba Report"
orders employees not to read or download the Taguba report at Fox News, on the grounds that the document is classified. It also orders them not to discuss the matter with friends or family members. The emailed memo was leaked to TIME by a senior U.S. civilian official in Baghdad, who did not
hide his disdain for the "factotums" in the Pentagon.
"I do wonder how incredibly stupid some people in the
Pentagon are," he emailed TIME. "Not only are they
drawing everyone's attention to the report  and where
it can be seen  but attempting to muzzle people never
works."

Perhaps realizing that, the email's author in
"Information Services Customer Liaison" said: "This
leakage will be investigated for criminal prosecution.
If you don't have the document and have never had
legitimate access, please do not complicate the
investigative processes by seeking information." As
the type-face switched to high-alarm red, the 180-word
email continues: "THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS
REPORT IS CLASSIFIED; DO NOT GO TO FOX NEWS TO READ OR
OBTAIN A COPY."

The memo also contained four tips on how to plug the
leaks of explosive prison-abuse tales. The first is
"NOT to go to Fox News to read or obtain a copy" of
the Taguba report. The American official in Baghdad
received the email on Friday from the Office of the
Secretary of Defense's Policy team, marked to "MAL POL
ALL POLICY," with a note telling employees that those
who have read the Taguba report on the web should
"CALL POLICY IT SECURITY IMMEDIATELY!"